Direct-acting engine.



Patented yI\pr 22, |902.

.T. WRIGHTSON J."MORISON.

DIRECT ACTING ENGINE.

(Application filed Dec. 9, 1901.)

3 Sheets-Sheet I (Ilo Model.)

illii! I f @mM/J Mmm fk haben 'mc Noms Finns ce., vamo-Mya. WILMINGTON.nV cA l Patented Apr.` 22,1902'. T'. wmGHT'sUN J. Momsuu.v

`DIHEG'T ACTING ENGINE. (Abpucation m'ed me. 9, 1901;)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

lllllllll IIL \\.4l

/ llllllllllll Il we Nonms PETERS C0., HC19-UWG.. wAsNlNnYcN, D. C.

. Patnted Apr. 22,- i902; T. wmeHTsoN & u. Momson.

mnEcT AcrmG ENGINE.

(Applictiun med nec. 9, 1901.3

a sheets-sheet a'.

(No Model.)

, to a swinging arm, the end UNTTED STATES v PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS VVRIGHTSON, OF WESTMINSTER, AND JOHN MORISON, OF CRAM- LINGTONCOLLIERY, ENGLAND.

DIRECT-ACTING ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part `of LetterS Patent No. 698,094, dated April22, 1902., Application filed December 9, 1901. Serial No. 85,221. (Nomodel.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS WRIGHTSON, baronet, M. P., residing at 5Victoria street, in the city of Westminster, and JOHN MORI- SON,mining-engineer, residing at Cramlngton Colliery, in the county ofNorthumberland, England, subjects'of the King of Great Britain, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in or in Connection withDirect-Acting Engines Applicable for Coal-Cutting, Mining, Drilling,Tunneling, Stamping Ore, Pile-Driving, and the Like, of which thefollowing is a specification. 4

The machine is of the reciprocating percussive type and is 'formed withtwo cylinders side by side, each actuating a pick or tool and actingalternately. Each cylinder is fitted with a piston, which has apiston-rod extending forward from it and carrying a second piston, whichWorks in a cylinder of smaller diameter" than the first and whichextends from its end. This second cylinder is open at its outer end, anda rod extends forward from it to carry or actuate a pick or tool. In amachine for mining coal the picks or tools may be either socketeddirectly into the piston-heads or the rod may give movement of whichcarries the tool. The forward stroke of each pair of pistons is eiectedby admitting air or other fluid under pressure to the rear end of thelarger cylinder. The backward movement of the pistons is caused by thespace between the two pistons of each pair being kept suppliedcontinuously with iiuid under pressure from the fluid-supply, wherebyVthe larger pistons will be pressed vback with a constant pressuredepending upon the difference in area of the larger and smaller pistons.Bythis arrangement of double -pistons stuffing-boxes are dispensed withand the pistons can give a free blow.

The valve used for alternately putting the rear end of one of the twolarge cylinders in communication 'with the exhaust and the rear end ofthe other large cylinder in communication with air or other iiuid underpressure may be an ordinary slide-valve moved to and 'fro vby adouble-headed piston, the two heads of which enter two small cylindersat opposite ends of the valve-chest, the inner ends of these smallcylinders being open to the interior of the valve-chest and their outerends put into communication by pipes with ports formed in the sides ofthe two smaller cylinders. When the piston in one of these two smallercylinders is making its forward stroke in the act of delivering a blowand when the Vport in the side of the cylinder is op'en to the spacebetween the larger and smaller pistons, the air in this space beingconstantly under pressure the pressure is communicated through the smallpipe to the outer end of one Vof the heads of the double-headed piston.When the piston in the other smaller cylinder makes its return strokeand passes back beyond the portin the side of the cylinder, it permitsof the escape of air or fluid from the small.

pipe which opens into the cylinder and so relieves the opposite end ofthe double-headed piston from pressure, and the double-headed piston isthereby caused to be moved endwise and the valve shifted from oneposition to another. This movement of the valve causes air or fluidunder pressure to be admitted to the has made its backward stroke and atthe same time opens the rear end of the other larger cylinder to theexhaust. This action is repeated alternately irst by the movement of oneof the smaller pistons and then by the movement of the other. The actionwhereby the back-going piston is the means of operat- Arear end ofthelarger cylinder whose piston u ing the valve admits of the toolgiving either a l rocating parts. vThe pistons maybe cushioned in theforward stroke by inserting a diaphragm-plate between the larger and thesmaller cylinders and by cutting a groove or grooves along thepiston-rod,which will per.

mit air or fluid under pressure to pass freely from one side ofthediaphragm to the other during the greater part of the forward strokeuntil a portion of the piston-rod ralongwhich the groove does not'extendf passes into the opening through the diaphragm; lThey pas- IOOis a section on the line e', Fig. 6.

"views of the slide-valve.

sage of air or fluid past the diaphragm is thus to some extent arrestedand the air or iluid which is then imprisoned in front of the largerpiston forms a cushion to gradually bring the piston to rest. Forundercutting coal or like work the two cylinders may be mounted upon asupporting-carriage on wheels, so that the machine may readily beshifted to and fro.

The advantages derived from using two cylinders in the manner abovedescribed are that the pistons may strike full strokes or short strokesif they are stopped from completing their full strokes and the pistonsalways return whether they complete a full stroke or not. chine, and themovement of one pick in one direction will to some extent balance thesimultaneous movement of the other pick in the opposite direction and sorender the ma.- chine easier to hold to its work. The effect of the blowof one piek will also tend to free the other pick should it have becomefixed in the coal or material being cut.

Figure l is a plan view of a swinging-pick machine constructed as abovedescribed. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with the supportingwheels removed,and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. flis a horizontalsection of the rear end of the machine. Fig. 5 is a side elevation,mostly in section, on a larger scale, of the cylinders; Fig. (3, a plan,and Fig. 7 an end view, of the same. Fig. S Figi. D is a front View;Fig. lO, a back view of the casting which forms the cover for therearend of the 'larger cylinders, and Fig. ll a side elevation of thiscasting. Fig. 1211s a plan view of a valve-chamber secured to the backof the above casting; Fig. 13, a front view of the valve chamber, andFig. lt an end view. Figs. l5, 16, and 17 show side, end, and face Fig.1S shows a modification in which the large and small cylinders areeccentric to one another.

a b are two cylinders, one above the other.

c is a cylinder of smaller diameter in front of the cylinder tt, and (Za small-diameter cylinder in front of the cylinder l).

e e are pistons coupled by a rod f and fitting the cylinders a c, and gg are pistons coupled by a rod and fitting the cylinders Z) d.

The rear ends of the cylinders (t l) are closed by a cover 7L, the backface of which is a valveface having two ports t' j formed through it,leading to the rear ends of the two-cylinders a b, and a central port L,leading to an exhaustpassage l. l

mis a casing secured to the back ot' the cover t. n o are two cylindersat the two ends of this casing and in line with one another.

pp are two pistons coupled by a rod q and one Working in the cylinder n,the other in the cylinder o.

fr is a slide-valve having two arched cavities s formed in it. On theback of the slidevalve is a projection t, fitting into a slot in Thereis also no dead-point in the mai the rod g, so that if q is movedendwise the slide-valve moves with it.

I1/ is a small pipe passing from the outer end of the cylinder n to theside of the cylinder c, and o a pipe extending from the outer end of thecylinder o to the side of the cylinder d.

1U is a pipe by which air or fluid under pressure is admitted through aport formed through the cover lt into the interior of the valve-chamberm. A passage :15, also supplied with air under pressure from the pipew,leads to a port y, opening into the rear ends of the two smallercylinders c cl, and thus the spaces between the pistons c and the spacesbetween the pistons g are always filled with air under pressure.

The action of the engine is as follows: Then the valve is in theposition shown in Fig. 4, air is being admitted to the rear end of thelower cylinder b to drive forward the pistons g. As the foremost pistong passes the end of the small pipe tq air under pressure enters thispipe, and if the pistons c have made their backward stroke and so leftthe end of the pipe tt open to the outer air the valve -r will beshifted endwise and put into position for causing the upper pair ofpistons to be thrown forward. It is not necessary that the pistons c orthe pistons g should fully complete their forward strokes to cause thevalve t' to be shifted to and fro. So long as the foremost piston c inits forward stroke passes the end of the pipe it or the foremost pistong passes the pipe n the valve r will be caused to shift its position,whether the pistons are able to complete their forward movement or areprevented by some obstruction from doing so.

In Figs. l and 2 the pistons are shown as being used for giving motionto two swinging picks A, which can be swung to and fro around a pin B.One pick-arm is coupled by a link C with a rod extending forward fromthe piston e and the other pick-arm being coupled by a similar link Cwith a rod extending forward from the piston d. The pin B is carried byplates D, fixed by bolts to lugs E, projecting from the cylinders. Asshown, the plates are so formed that the pin can be put in one or otherof two positions, so that the picks may eitherswing from right to leftor left to right.

F F are supporting-wheels mounted on axles which project from a squareloop G, riveted to the upper and lower plates D.

II H are division-plates between the larger and smaller cylinders. Thepiston-rods j" pass through and fit within holes in these plates andhave grooves formed along them for the greater part of their length,which allow air to pass freely from the one cylinder to the other,except just at the end of the stroke, when the passage of air is almostentirely arrested, and the air more or less imprisoned in front of thelarger piston forms a buffer to gradually bring the piston to rest.

In place of the pistons and piston-rods be- IOC IIO

ing used to give a swinging motion to picks the rods projecting forwardfrom the smaller pistons may be formed with hammer-heads or with socketsfor carrying picks or cuttingtools. In place also of the small cylindersand large cylinders being concentric one with the other they might beeccentric. The rods also which project forward from the smaller pistonsmight be still more eccentric to the larger piston,and the two rods canthus be brought closer together, as illust-rated in Fig. 18.

What we claim is l. The combination of the pair of cylinders a, c thepair of cylinders b, d the pistons c fitting these cylinders the rods fcoupling the pistons in each pair of cylinders, means for admitting airor fluid under pressure continuously to the space between the pistons ineach pair, a valve-chamber, two small cylinders at opposite ends of thischamber, pistons fitting these small cylinders, a rod coupling thepistons together, valve mechanism operated by the movement of thepistons in these small cylinders by which air or fluid is alternatelyadmitted to the rear end of the cylinder ct and to escape from rear endof b or to enter the rear end of b and escape from a, a pipe passingfrom the outer end of one of the small cylinders to some point at theside of the small cylinder c and another similar pipe passing from theouter end of the other small cylinder to the side of the small cylinderd.

2. The combination of the pair of cylinders u. c, the pair of cylindersb d, the pistons e 'fitting these cylinders the rods f coupling thepistons in each pair of cylinders, means for admitting air or fluidunder pressure continuously to the space between the pistons in eachpair whereby owing to the difference in area between the pistons thepistons are normally driven back into their cylinders, means foradmitting air or fluid under pressure to the rear end of the largercylinder of one pair to drive forward the pistons of that pair while' atthe same time air or fluid is allowed to escape from the rear end of thelarger cylinder of the other pair and the pistons of this pair allowedto make their backward stroke.

3. The combination of two parallel pairs of cylinders each pairconsisting of' a cylinder closed at its rear end and a smaller cylinderprojecting from its front end and opening into.

to the space between the pistons of each pair,V

a port in the side of each small cylinder past which the piston of thatcylinder travels to and fro alternately opening that port to the pistonsto'alternately admit iuid under pressure to the rear end of the largercylinder of one pair and then to the other and simultaneously allowr itto escape from the rear end of the larger cylinder which is not havingiiuid under pressure supplied to it.

4. The combination of two parallel pairs of cylinders, each pairconsisting of a cylinder closed at its rear end and a smaller cylinderprojecting from its front end and openinginto it, the pistons of thesecylinders, rods connecting lthe pistons of each pair, means foradmitting fluid under pressure continuously to the space between thepistons of each pair, and means for alternately admitting fiuid underpressure tothe rear end of the larger cylinder of one pair of cylindersand then of the other and simultaneously allowing it to escape from thelarger cylinder which is not having fiuid under pressure admitted to it.

5. The combination of two parallel pairs of cylinders each pairconsisting of a cylinder yclosed at its rear end and a smaller cylinderprojecting from its front end and opening into it, the pistons of thesecylinders, rods connecting the pistons of each pair, means for admittingfiuid under pressure continuously to the space between the pistons ofeach pair,

two swinging pick arms, links connecting these arms to the two pairs ofpistons and means for alternately admitting Ii'uidunde'r pressure to therear end of the larger cylinder of one pair of cylinders and then to theother and simultaneously allowing it to escape from the rear end of thelarger cylinder which is not having liuid under pressure suppliedto it.

THOMAS WRIGHTSON. JOHN MORISON.

'Ico

Witnesses to the signature oi Thomas f Wrightson:

FREDERICK GEORGE vNEsBITr, WILLIAM SINCLAIR REID.

. Witnesses to the signature of John Mori'- son: A

MAURICE C. HILL, JOSEPH GARDNER.

